F 16

A military jet and helicopter swooped alongside a small plane Saturday to and escorted it away from a temporary restricted flight zone above Florida's eastern coast, where President Obama was spending the holiday weekend with friends, officials said. U.S. Army Lt. Col. Mike Humphreys said an F-16 jet and a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter intercepted the plane just before noon and forced it to land a few minutes later at Witham Field in Stuart, Fla. Federal Aviation Administration officials said in a statement that they're investigating whether the Cessna 152 entered the restricted area above Florida's Treasure Coast.

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon will send a dozen F-16 fighters and 300 troops to Poland to reinforce U.S. commitment to defending its allies in Eastern Europe as thousands of Russian forces appeared to tighten their grip on parts of Ukraine, officials said Wednesday. The expanded U.S. deployment is the largest on the territory of a NATO ally since the Ukraine crisis began last month, sparking fears of a broader regional conflict. The U.S. military move in Poland, which has been under discussion with officials in Warsaw since last week, is a “deliberate choice to demonstrate to our allies that U.S. commitments to our collective defense responsibilities are credible and remain in force,” said Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman.

A military jet and helicopter swooped alongside a small plane Saturday to and escorted it away from a temporary restricted flight zone above Florida's eastern coast, where President Obama was spending the holiday weekend with friends, officials said. U.S. Army Lt. Col. Mike Humphreys said an F-16 jet and a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter intercepted the plane just before noon and forced it to land a few minutes later at Witham Field in Stuart, Fla. Federal Aviation Administration officials said in a statement that they're investigating whether the Cessna 152 entered the restricted area above Florida's Treasure Coast.

Regarding "Lockheed jets going to Pakistan" (Jan. 1): At a time of worldwide apprehension over the prospect of nuclear weapons falling into the wrong hands in Pakistan, what do I see in the first issue of the L.A. Times for 2008? Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force intend to deliver 18 F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan. By all means, let's provide them with additional means to deliver those nukes. Absolutely brilliant. Jon Rowe Costa Mesa

The Japanese Defense Agency, ending a heated, three-year debate, on Wednesday announced approval of a $7-billion program to make a new version of the U.S. F-16 fighter its next-generation of fighter-support plane. The decision will give the General Dynamics Corp. its first access to Japan's military aircraft market. A spokesman for General Dynamics in Fort Worth, Tex., where the F-16 program is headquartered, told The Times the firm has received no word of the Tokyo announcement.

Fists and teeth clench, toes curl and capillaries explode as the body fights to stop blood being sucked from the brain during a gravity-be-damned ride in an F-16--one of the world's most agile fighter planes. Faster than the speed of sound, the craft screams into a turn and within seconds a 10-pound human head weighs almost 90 pounds and a neck feels like a toothpick.

They fly low and slow over the border, their wings painted black and motors humming faintly under moonlit skies. The pilots, some armed in the open cockpits, steer the horizontal control bar with one hand and pull a latch with the other, releasing 250-pound payloads that land with a thud, leaving only craters as evidence of another successful smuggling run. Mexican organized crime groups, increasingly stymied by stepped-up enforcement on land, have...

President Obama was aboard his Marine One helicopter flying to a celebrity-studded fundraiser in Holmby Hills last February when a single-engine plane, flying radio silent, breached a no-fly zone over Los Angeles. An ear-piercing horn rocketed Capt. Luke Campagne to his feet 50 miles away. His G-suit already strapped on, Campagne sprinted out of a windowless, cinder block barracks at Riverside's March Air Reserve Base to an F-16 fighter jet waiting in a hangar. Within minutes, two Fighting Falcons screamed over Hemet, then banked west toward Long Beach, crossing the Santa Ana Mountains at a hair below supersonic speeds - guns and missiles "hot.

President Obama was aboard his Marine One helicopter flying to a celebrity-studded fundraiser in Holmby Hills last February when a single-engine plane, flying radio silent, breached a no-fly zone over Los Angeles. An ear-piercing horn rocketed Capt. Luke Campagne to his feet 50 miles away. His G-suit already strapped on, Campagne sprinted out of a windowless, cinder block barracks at Riverside's March Air Reserve Base to an F-16 fighter jet waiting in a hangar. Within minutes, two Fighting Falcons screamed over Hemet, then banked west toward Long Beach, crossing the Santa Ana Mountains at a hair below supersonic speeds - guns and missiles "hot.

February 17, 2012 | By Dan Weikel and Ari Bloomekatz, Los Angeles Times

A small private plane carrying a load of marijuana strayed into President Obama's no-fly zone over Los Angeles on Thursday and was forced to land at Long Beach Airport after being intercepted by U.S. Air Force jet fighters, authorities said. The four-seat Cessna entered the restricted airspace about 11 a.m. as the president was flying from Orange County to Los Angeles aboard Marine One, a military helicopter provided for his use. Federal officials said the aircraft was never close enough to endanger Obama.

The Obama administration informed Congress last month that it would proceed with the upgrade of Taiwan's fleet of 145 F-16 jet aircraft. The decision is controversial. China firmly opposes any U.S. effort to assist Taiwan militarily. Although Taiwan expressed gratitude for the decision, it had sought 66 new F-16s in the more advanced C/D models (it now has the A/B models). Taiwan's friends in Congress and defense contractors had argued for the C/Ds. Taipei's disappointment belies the fact that this decision constitutes a real contribution to Taiwan's security and underscores the U.S. commitment to Taiwan.

It's the most expensive fighter jet ever built. Yet the F-22 Raptor has never seen a day of combat, and its future is clouded by a government safety investigation that has grounded the jet for months. The fleet of 158 F-22s has been sidelined since May 3, after more than a dozen incidents in which oxygen was cut off to pilots, making them woozy. The malfunction is suspected of contributing to at least one fatal accident. At an estimated cost of $412 million each, the F-22s amount to about $65 billion sitting on the tarmac.

They fly low and slow over the border, their wings painted black and motors humming faintly under moonlit skies. The pilots, some armed in the open cockpits, steer the horizontal control bar with one hand and pull a latch with the other, releasing 250-pound payloads that land with a thud, leaving only craters as evidence of another successful smuggling run. Mexican organized crime groups, increasingly stymied by stepped-up enforcement on land, have...

Re "How a few F-16s can buy peace in the Taiwan Strait," Opinion, Nov. 11 In recommending that the United States leverage not selling F-16 jets to Taiwan for better U.S.-China-Taiwan relations, professor Dennis V. Hickey overlooks three key points. First, the U.S. has formally assured Taipei that Washington will not hold prior consultations with Beijing regarding arms sales to Taiwan. Second, although it would be a significant and welcome gesture if China pulled back missiles aimed at Taiwan, Beijing could easily redeploy those missiles whenever it wanted.

It is quite obvious that the decision by President Bush to sell 150 F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan is a political stunt to grab some votes in Texas. It represents a change in tune by the Bush Administration, which had plans to stop F-16 production. The reason George Santa Claus Bush will not come to California with a gift for defense workers here is due to a very simple fact. Bush knows that he will not win California's 54 electoral votes even if he stands on his head. RAY ACKERMAN, Los Angeles

November 11, 2009 | Dennis V. Hickey, Dennis V. Hickey is a professor of political science at Missouri State University.

President Obama will have a lot on his agenda when he visits China this week as part of his four-nation Asia trip. He wants to strengthen ties with Beijing in an effort to resolve the global financial crisis, foster collaboration on climate change and curb nuclear proliferation in North Korea. China's cooperation is also essential on a wide range of other pressing problems, including terrorism, threats to public health and dwindling energy supplies. Most analysts agree, however, that Beijing's chief concern is the United States' continued military support of Taiwan.

Israelis witnessed the second act of a riveting tragedy Sunday when the crash of an F-16 fighter-bomber killed the pilot son of Ilan Ramon, the Israeli astronaut who died in the Columbia space shuttle disaster of 2003. Radio and television stations interrupted their programming to report the death of air force Lt. Assaf Ramon, 21, and convey emotional responses by the nation's leaders. Some newscasters wore black. "The Sky Has Fallen Twice," read the headline on Ynet, an online news site.